At just 24 years old, Justin Bonomo already has more than $2.2 million in live tournament winnings, and multiple WSOP final tables. Most recently he finished fifth at the $40,000 event at the 2009 Series, winning $413,165. He first made a name for himself online, but has transformed himself into a feared live tournament player. Now a Vegas resident, he also won a WSOP Circuit Championship earlier this year, just one of his 33 cashes. He answers readers’ questions this month.

In a live tournament blinds are 25-50 and I have a 1700 stack. I’m in the small blind. Action folds around to the cutoff, who raises to 150. I call with A♥-9♥. The flop comes K♥-Q♥-K♦. I check and cutoff bets 250. Now here is where I don’t know whether to shove and put my tournament life at risk or just call and see what the turn brings. I called and it was another Q so I just check/folded. Can you tell me everything I did wrong and what I should have done?

– John, Birmingham

Your flop play is good. This is a flop that could have hit him huge, and if he has a king, you don’t really want to get the money in. Basically, because of the texture, “bad things” can happen when you check-raise here, but when you check/call, it’s really hard for things to go “horribly wrong.” You’ll often have the best hand with ace-high and get a free showdown. And when you hit your flush, you can often check-raise the turn and sometimes you’ll double up against three kings. If instead the flop was something like J-7-2 with two hearts, I would say just check-raise and get it in because your equity is so high when you get it in vs. one pair (especially one lower than a nine), and your fold equity is probably higher on that board as well.

Early in a tournament I was playing at a very loose table with a lot of limping. I had 10-10 in the big blind and watched five people limp into the pot. I raised about four times the blinds and still everyone called. The flop came queen-high. Do I just check here with that many people acting behind me?

– Chris, Walsall

First of all, you have to raise much more preflop. The exact amount I’d recommend depends on stacks, but 6x to 8x can be right. The reason is these guys have position on you, so you can’t give them such a good price to call. Playing a multi-way pot with 10-10 out of position can be a disaster. Once the flop comes, check/folding is a fine line to take. You will never win a huge pot unless you hit your two-outer, and you are probably beat.

If you could only give someone just one piece of advice about winning at poker, what would it be?

– Clueless in Seattle

There is no magic secret to poker, and because of that, my advice is to always make sure you are improving. Poker is a very complicated game, like chess, and to become proficient at it, you need to put in a lot of “study time.” Over the years I started off reading a ton of poker books. Eventually, I found poker forums and friends to talk strategy with. Now, there are tons of online training sites. Using whatever medium you prefer, make sure you do anything you can to learn more about the game. Also, be critical and analytical about your own play. Never be content and always try to improve.

I’m having a lot of trouble reading people live. How important is this? What kinds of things can I be looking for to get a better feel for my opponents?

– Warren, Gibraltar

Reading people live is a huge edge, although I would not say it’s a necessity. There are plenty of successful players out there who aren’t good at it, but I think it really is an extremely useful skill to have. There are a few books on the subject such as Mike Caro’s classic Book of Tells, and the newer books by Joe Navarro. Personally, I learned a lot by analysing my own tells, getting rid of them, and then applying them to my opponents.

What are your thoughts on listening to music at the table? Am I missing too many things if I have headphones on? What if the people talking at the table are annoying me – is it better for me to do it then?

– Kim, Las Vegas

Headphones can go either way at the table. Personally, I recommend the ones that go in your ear (rather than the ones that cover your ear), so that you can hear both the music and table talk at the same time. I find music to be very helpful to control my emotions. For example, if I’m sick from a bad beat, I’ll just put on some intense music to take my negative demeanour away. Just make sure you don’t use music as an excuse to ignore what’s going on at the table or to lose your focus. If you find yourself doing that, try to keep the music off. This really is a question that changes drastically from person to person. Use whatever works best for you, and your personal skill set/psychology.

What should you do when you start to feel your game deteriorate? I feel like I’m just not playing as good as I used to and not making the right decisions. Do I pick up a book? Play online? What can I do to get my game back?

– James, London

All of the above until one works. Try something new. Have you ever watched videos from training sites? Is there someone you play with regularly whose game you respect? Do everything you can to fix your leaks until you find something that works. For some people, taking a break is the best solution.

How do you know when you can make a light call down or defend against a three-bet? How do you tell when something is +EV?

– The Sixth Beatle, Liverpool

These are much more complicated questions than they may appear to be. To figure out if someone is bluffing, you have to know how to read hands and betting patterns. There’s no quick answer to this. It takes years of practice. Defending against a three-bet is also not an easy thing to do. For one, don’t do it much at all against people who mostly three-bet strong hands. If they have you crushed, you can just fold. On the other hand if someone is doing it all the time with complete trash, then you can call liberally. And for your final question, that’s basically like asking, “How do you know if a play is correct in poker?” Unfortunately, this column isn’t quite big enough to tell you how to always find the best play in poker. I’m sorry for the vague answers, but really, to find the answers to those questions, you just need to study all aspects of the game more.

What is your advice for playing small pocket pairs in early position in tournaments? Where does your raising range begin? 

– Trying to Build a Roll, Nottingham

This depends drastically on stack sizes. If the stack sizes are deep and your opponents are passive, limping in is just fine. Don’t try this against players WHO will punish your limps with big raises. Against really tough players, folding 2-2 under the gun is completely standard. Later in tournaments when the stack sizes get shallower, let’s say with 25 big blinds, it’s no longer possible to play even 6-6 UTG profitably against good opponents. Just fold it and don’t think twice about it.

How long should you wait to act at the table? For example, should you always take the same amount of time to make decisions? If you are bluffing and don’t want people to know, is it ever OK to just muck immediately after being raised, etc.?

– Vinnie in Vegas

I personally act quickly because I like to set up an intimidating image, but obviously I wouldn’t recommend that for everyone. For most people I would suggest taking only a couple seconds at most to make standard preflop calls and raises, as well as continuation bets. It’s really in big pots or when you make big bets or raises that you need to start controlling your timing. In those cases, always using a five-second pause, or however long you may need, is a good idea. If you are bluffing and get raised, don’t waste the table’s time and take an entire minute, but a four- or five-second pause should be enough that the players might think you are folding something decent.

Do you change the way you play against opponents by stereotyping them? For example, would you play differently against an older man you didn’t know as opposed to a younger kid you think is a good online player?

– Intimidator, Dublin

 

I use stereotyping a lot in my game, but I recommend “second level stereotyping” rather than first level. For example, is the old man an angry guy, or perhaps someone who is soft-spoken and very gentle? There will be obvious correlations between his table behaviour and his table play. Listen to how they talk. Look at how comfortable they are with their cards and chips. Look at how they are dressed. Do you think they are rich or poor? Do you think they satellited into the tournament, or are they tourists in a cash game who have a set budget to lose? Also, always be adjusting your view on them based on any changes. For example, has their play not matched up with your expectations, or perhaps are they on tilt? Use any information you can, but always remember to not get carried away with it. Extreme assumptions are usually wrong.